Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

. Jesus' Reputation
THE QUESTION OF JESUS' SELF-UNDERSTANDING §15.7
One of the most compelling features of the whole sweep of ancient opinion regarding
Jesus is his reputation as an exorcist and healer. It is no exaggeration to
claim that it is one of the most widely attested and firmly established of the historical
facts with which we have to deal. 259 The outlines can be sketched in fairly
briefly.
(1) In the Gospels, healing stories are frequently told about Jesus. For example,
in Mark there are thirteen such stories, 260 with exorcisms the largest single
category. 261 The latter are prominent also in summary statements. 262 Unusually
in the sermons in Acts, Jesus is proclaimed as 'a man attested to you by
God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him'
(Acts 2.22); 'he went about doing good (euergetön) and healing all that were oppressed
by the devil, for God was with him' (10.38). 263
(2) Jesus' reputation as a powerful exorcist is attested for his own time; his
name was evidently prized as one to call on, no doubt precisely because he himself
had been so successful in casting out demons. According to Luke, Jesus'
own disciples invoked his name with success. 264 And others apparently attempted
to do the same. 265 Origen boasts proudly: 'The name of our Lord Jesus
has already expelled innumerable demons out of soul and body — there are de
visu witnesses' {contra Celsum 1.25). Jesus' lasting fame is probably indicated
by the appearance of his name in some incantations preserved among the magical
papyri 266 and in several references in the Testament of Solomon. 161
(3) Witness to Jesus' fame as healer and exorcist is preserved outside
Christian tradition more explicitly. Josephus, as already noted, describes Jesus as
'a doer of extraordinary deeds' {Ant. 18.63). Later Celsus, Origen's bete noire,
attributed to Jesus 'certain magical powers' (Origen, contra Celsum 1.28, 68).
259. See, e.g., B. L. Blackburn, 'The Miracles of Jesus', in Chilton and Evans, Studying
the Historical Jesus 353-94, particularly 354-62; those cited by Evans, 'Authenticating the Activities
of Jesus' 12-13 nn. 19 and 22; and the firm conclusion of Kollmann, Jesus 306-307.
260. Mark. 1.29-31, 40-45; 2.1-12; 3.1-5; 5.21-24a and 35-43, 24b-34; 7.31-37; 8.22-
26; 10.46-52; see also Matt. 8.5-13/Luke 7.1-10; Luke 13.10-17; 14.1-6; 17.11-19; 22.49-51;
John 5.1-9; 9.1-41. P. Eg. 2 fragment 1 recto contains a version of Mark 1.40-45 (text in Aland,
Synopsis 60).
261. Mark 1.21-28; 5.1-20; 7.24-30; 9.14-29; also Matt. 12.22-23/Luke 11.14; Matt.
9.32-33; Luke 8.2. The absence of exorcisms in John's Gospel is noteworthy.
262. Mark 1.32-34, 39; 3.10-11; 6.5, 7, 13, 56; Luke 7.21; 13.32.
263. On the traditional material used by Luke in the Acts sermons see below, vol. 2.
264. Luke 10.17; Acts 16.18.
265. Mark 9.38; Acts 19.13.
266. PGM 4.1233, 3020; 12.190, 390.
267. T. Sol. 6.8 (see OTP 1.968 nn.); 11.6; 17.4; 22.20.
670